Three months ago he was on the brink of suicide after losing his business, his girlfriend and his home. Now, with the help of his flatmate who intervened in the nick of time, Dundee man David Stephenson has pulled himself back from the depths of despair and is looking forward to a new career as a semi-professional boxer.
Former soldier David (31) has revealed to The Courier how he hit the “lowest point” of his life one night in March when, convinced the world held nothing for him, he decided to end his suffering.
He was about to cut his wrists when his flatmate stepped in to save him.
David served with the 1st Battallion Royal Anglian Regiment until 2003. On leaving, he worked in Tenerife before meeting his then girlfriend and moving to live in her home town, Dundee. For the next seven years things went really well, he said, until last year, at the height of the recession, he lost everything.
“I worked at various gyms in Dundee then started a very successful business as a professional boxing coach at the Strike Boxing Academy, Dundee. During that time I trained two female British champions, Jenna Murray and Gillian Sheriff, but then the recession kicked in, coupled with the introduction of mixed martial arts, which meant boxing wasn’t flavour of the month any more.
“I lost a lot of fighters, things started to go wrong and eventually I had to liquidate the company. I also lost my girlfriend of two-and-a-half years and, through that, my home. For four or five weeks I couldn’t find any work, I started drinking and everything started getting on top of me.
“I had nowhere to go and was staying with a friend for a few days and one night, at the lowest point in my life, I went into the kitchen and grabbed a carving knife. I was trying to cut my wrists when my flatmate came through and tried to take the knife from me,” he said. “If he hadn’t come through then I would have succeeded.”
David admits that, acting on impulse, he knocked out the man who had saved him.
“It was only when I looked down and saw him lying on the floor, and me standing over him with a knife, that I had a moment of clarity. I made sure he was all rright and then went and sat in a cool shower and stayed there till I got myself sorted out.”
David moved out of the flat. He slept in Baxter Park before being pointed in the direction of the Salvation Army’s Strathmore Lodge in Ward Road.
“I had never asked anyone for help in my life before not even my parents but I had to ask for help then. The first night there I cried all night. The realisation of what had happened hit home and to be honest for the first two or three weeks there I was pretty miserable, even though I tried to hide it.’Healer'”However, over time, the time I had to myself was a really good healer and when I was re-housed I felt so much better.”
David stayed at Strathmore Lodge for nine weeks. With the help of the team there he started working out and regaining his self-confidence. Now he has been offered the chance to become a semi-professional boxer with SK Boxing Promotions in Glasgow and is training hard for his first pro fight at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow on September 10.
“That’s going to be my life now,” he said. “I’ve met a new girlfriend and I’ve applied for a full-time job with the Salvation Army in Dundee.”
David was keen to thank the Salvation Army staff who helped him.
“Boxing has been my life and it made me who I am, but I’d like to thank everyone here and give a personal thank you to Brenda Bathgate, a project team member, for helping me. Without this place I wouldn’t be in this position today. Hand-in-hand with boxing, it has saved my life.
“For anyone who has been in the same situation as me, I want to let them know that this place exists you don’t have to be on your own.”
Brenda said, “We’re a team here and we aim to help people recover from a whole variety of issues and work with a lot of agencies in the city. David was really quite down when he came here but he’s worked really hard and has come on very well so far.”